The Ghermezian family is a Canadian family of Iranian Jewish origin who have developed several of the world's largest shopping malls. The family's holdings include the Mall of America

Mall of America

The Mall of America, also called MOA and the Megamall, is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, in the United States. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the...

 in Bloomington, Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall

West Edmonton Mall

West Edmonton Mall , located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is the largest shopping mall in North America and the fifth largest in the world. The mall was founded by the Ghermezian brothers, who emigrated from Iran in 1959. It was the world's largest mall until 2004.West Edmonton Mall covers a gross...

 in Edmonton, Canada. In 2011, the family's Triple Five Group

Triple Five Group

Triple Five Group is a shopping mall owner and operator, hotel operator and real estate company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are well known for their ownership of the Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall...

 acquired the troubled Xanadu Meadowlands project in New Jersey. Triple Five renamed the project American Dream Meadowlands and has announced a major expansion and revamping of the under-construction mall, now expected to open in the fall of 2013.

Origin and Brothers

The patriarch of the family, Jacob Ghermezian, (1902 – January 3, 2000) moved from Iran to Canada with his four sons in 1964. The four, Eskandar, Nader, Raphael and Bahman grew the family rug business into a real estate and construction "empire."

Net Worth

The Hamilton Spectator estimated the family worth at 2 billion USD in 1992. In 2010, the Jerusalem Post estimated the family's worth at 4 billion USD.